I Want a Vampire, Not You
by blondeexxxlovesxxxparamore
Summary: Claire breaks up with Alex when she realizes that she wants a vampire for a bf. But will she get back with Alex or wait for a vampire to come along her path?
1. Breakups

~Claire's POV~

The sun hit my face and made my skin shine slightly, but i ignored it. The sun shouldn't shine for me. I didn't deserve it. I had broken up with Alex. There was only one reason why i broke up with Alex: he wasn't a vampire. I wanted a vampire to sweep me off of my feet, and he wasn't a vampire. He was human. he was sweet, innocent, gentle human who I had destroyed.

Sophie ran up to me and sat on the tother swing. We both were silent. She knew i needed time alone when I went into my "i'm an evil slut who no one should care about" rants. usually these4 rants were silent and only in my head, but Sophie had learned the hard way that if you disturbed them, they turned nasty really fast.

We just swung next to each other, waiting for our parents to come. If you looked from my parents to Sophie and I, you would probably raise some eyebrows. Our parents had matching brown hair, and somehow both my sister and I had purple hair. Don't ask me how. Purple hair was impossible. Most people asked us where we got our hair died so they could go too. They always wrinkled their noses in confusion when we told them that our hair was naturally purple.

Our parents finally arrived and we gathered our stuff and jumped in. "So, how did your days go?" Sophie started relaying her day, and my parents listened in. they looked at me expectantly, but after a minute or two realized the all-famous rant was going on inside my head.

_Why would you go out with him in the first place if you knew you wanted a vampire? How could you be so cruel and stupid? _**_No, I liked him. It took me a while to realize that I wanted a vampire. _**_And meanwhile you had him wrapped around your finger. And then you destroyed him. _**_Shut up. _**_Make me. _I groaned inwardly, knowing that my angry side had won. It continued scolding me, and this time my defensive side didn't fight back. My family fell silent eventually, recognising the tension in me and knowing exactly which side had won the argument.

I got home and collapsed onto my bed. I did my homework as quickly as possible, not wanting to think seeing as whenever I thought I thought about what had happened. _And to think you thought you liked him. If you really liked him, you wouldn't have put him through what you did. _I groaned out loud this time and buried my head in my arms.

"Why can't I just live with the fact that I'm human? I'll probably never get the vampire I want!" Lately, one of the most popular girls in school became a vampire's finacee. that's who you had to be. The best of the best. Most vampires wanted other vampires. It was very rare that one would set their eyes ona human. There was no hope that I would get a vampire to love me.

I fell asleep half way through my geometry homework. I was completely unaware that my life was about to completely change.

~Alex's POV~

I stumbled down the street. It amazed me that i was still disoriented by it. She had broken up with me. Claire broke up with me. I was resigned about it, though. She wanted a vampire and I understood that. Super speed and strength, mind reading, amazingly good looks, I just couldn't compete with a vampire. And I wanted her to be happy, soI wasn't going to bug her. Besides, she had said we could be friends if i was comfortable with it.

I arrived home and opened the door. I yelled for my family, but only got silence. That was strange. Whenever they went out, they always locked the door, but it was unlocked. I shrugged and walked up the stairs.

I heard a crash and i stopped. It had come from my parents' room. I ran to their room and opened it to find something I did not want to see.

There were many things that registered in my mind at once. 1) my mother was dead. 2) my father was almost dead. 3) everything they owned was trashed around the entire room. And 4) there was a vampire smiling cheerfully at me.

"Well, you smell a lot better than your parents, let me tell you." She had blonde hair down to her waist, which shined to the point of blinding me when the light hit it. She had curves in all the right places, and her face was simply flawless. But her impossible beautydid not make me forget that she had killed my parents.

"Well then. I'm Marcy."

"Why are you telling me this?" She shrugged.

"I just like people to feel like they die with someone they know. It's horrible to die alone." I shivered. This vampire chick didn't exactly think like a human chick would. Death shouldn'tbe a casual subject. Next thing I knew she had me pinned to the floor and was simply beaming at me. I narrowed my eyes. She was the strangest vampire I had ever met.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure it doesn't hurt." She bit me and I found myself going limp. I couldn't fight at all. I knew what it was. It was the immobilizing venom in her teeth. It spread even quicker than i thought.

She was ripped off of me suddenly and I looked up wearily to see my father on top of her. It was the last thing he would ever do. I watched with horror as my father slumped against Marcy and she rolled her eyes. "Your father is quite heavy." I ran as far as i could away from the house as fast as i could, like I should have done when i first discovered them.

I could barely hear her whisper with an exasperated sigh, "Why do they always run?" I didn't turn back at all, but my energy quickly dissapated. I collapsed in the middle of an alley and cursed under my breath. i heard laughing behind me. "I must admit, the chase is always the best part, even if the start of it always annoys me."

Marcy smiled at me and pinned me to the ground and smiled sadistically. She practically purred when she spoke next. "You're awfully pretty for a human, aren't you?" She smiled brightly and jumped off of me, sitting next to me instead. She bit her wrist and forced it into my mouth. "Come on just drink it. You'll feel better."

I fought the urge to swallow as long as i could, but eventually it seeped into my throat. causing me to cough and swallow the thick, coppery substance bleeding out of her wrist. My vision became plagued with dots and Marcy smiled triumphantly at me before I passed out.


	2. Mate Marks

~Claire's POV~

Class was really wierd that day. I spent the entire day wondering where Alex had gone. I couldn't help but think it was my fault. "Come on, Claire! Come swing with me!" I sighed and did as Sophie asked. She was trying to make things better. I appreciated that.

"You guys won't believe what happened to me last night!"

"What happened, Jen?"  
"Well, I was walking around after my parents got home. It was one of those days." Jen's parents were complicated. Sometimes they were fine, but others they came home crunk and... things happened to Jen that shouldn't. Her brother had left for college, so he couldn't protect her anymore. "Anyways, so I was walking around and this like, really hot vampire guy totally took me in when i told him about it! Like oh my god!"

"really? A vampire?" Honestly, Jen needed a guy in her life right now. Especially one who could protect her. But I still couldn't help but feel jealous. At least _she_ had a fraction of a chance of getting the vampire that _I_ wanted.

"yeah! I mean, nothing's happened between us yet, but I think things might change on that front." She giggled and I sighed.

"Come on," Sophie whispered. We both snuck away as jen was daydreaming about her hot vampire soon-to-be-boyfriend. I don;t know what I would do without Sophie.

"Hey, have you met Luke?"

"No, but I've seen him around. Why?"

"He's my new boyfriend." She looked down and blushed while I gaped at her.

"You got a boyfriend without telling me?"

"Well he just asked me out like ten minutes ago."

"Oh my God, Claire! I'm so hapy for you!" We both jumped up and down squealing for a few seconds (everybody's got to have their girl moments) before going back to being serious. "I can not believe you're going out with him. Why didn't you tell me as soon as it happened?"

"I told you now! So shush!"

"Is there a problem ladies?"

"No." Sophie started giggling uncontrollably and looked down to hide her blush. I felt a smile tugging at the corner of my lips. It was funny to watch how my sister reacted to him.

"Hi. I'm Luke."

"Hi. Claire, Sophie's sister."

"I can tell. the purple haired girls always stick out." I rolled my eyes, but smiled anyways. Luke didn't seem so bad.

"If you ever hurt her, I'm coming after you." I said it jokingly, but he knew that I meant it completely.

"Don't worry. i don't intend to." I nodded and left, giving them some time alone. Sophie had a boyfriend, Jen had a vampire, and i had ruined a perfectly good thing for a dilusion. Great.

~Alex's POV~

I woke up and opened my eyes, only to immediately shut them again. The light was too much to take. It took a minute for me to gather the courage to look again, and it was then that I realized why it was too much to take.

My vision had completely changed. my eyes absorbed everything in exact detail. When the door opened, the small creak it made was enough to hurt me ears. "What the hell did you do to me?"

"Well I changed you, silly. I told you you were awfully attractive for a human. you didn't think I meant it?" I looked at Marcy with fuming anger. "Just calm down. Honestly, you're worse than a two year old." She rolled her eyes as i crossed my arms over my chest. I officially hated her.

"Now, now, then. Eternity is a long time. It'll be easier on both of us if you just went along with this."

"Why on Earth would I spend eternity with you?"

She ran up to me and pointed to my neck. "Because of this." I examined it in the mirror. It was a small design that looked like a tattoo on my neck. What in the world was that? And why would it make me spend eternity with this nightmare? "It's a mate mark." She whispered in my ear. My eyes widened.

"A what?"

"A mate mark. See, these are my initials, and this is the crest of my family. It won't go away until one of us dies." She batted her eyes at me like this was the most innocent thing in the world she was telling me. The growl that errupted from my throat surprised me more than her. She just giggled. "You're so cute when you're angry." She ran up to me and her lips crashed onto mine before i could react. the kiss was really quick, but the disgusting effects were long lasting. "You'll get used to all of this, you know. I'm really not that bad, am I?"

I had her pinned to the wall with such speed and strength that I never thought possible. "You couldn't hurt me. A vampire can't hurt someone they share the mark with. It'll hurt you too." I pressed her into the wall until she gasped of pain. Suddenly, I felt myself gasping out in pain as well, and we both slid down the wall. I looked at her incredulously. She nodded. "I told you. Whether you like it or not, you're mine." She grinned. I just got up and walked away, slamming the door behind me.


	3. Meeting Daddy

~Alex's POV~

"We're meeting my daddy today!"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! Now up and get ready! NOW! I want you presentable." Have i ever told you Marcy is a bitch? Well, she is. All I could think about was how much i wanted Marcy to somehow magically become more like Claire. I really hated her right then.

"Why should I do what you ask me to do when you forced me into all of this?"

"Because I'm trying! Come one, Aly!" She was pinned to the wall within a second.

"Don't ever call me Aly again." She sighed.

"You wouldn't. You pride yourself too much. You don't hate me enough to offset that." She then proceeded to examine her nails. She looked bored. Few people could pull off looking bored while being pinned to the wall. I narrowed my eyes and released my hold on her throat. I stalked off, making it as obvious as possible how angry I was. I hated her.

"I want you dressed properly, Alex. you're not wearing that to meet my daddy! now come on. We should probably go hunting on the way. but don't worry about it. Daddy will have blood for us. Probably some blood mixed with wine. Yum! So come on, Alex! We need to go!"

Eventually, I gave in to her constant nagging and changed into 'more formal attire' for her. I was grumbling all the way to the car. I don't know why, but I had noticed I was a lot more outspoken as a vampire.I sighed. A lot of things from my personality changed when I became a vampire.

"Come on, come on! The limo is waiting!" Why we were using a limo when we could probably run ten times faster than it was idotic. But she wanted to ride in a limo. I guess she wanted the 'higher status and not having the wind in her hair.' She was way too worried about the shallow things that shouldn't exist.

"Alright! We're here! Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" She ran out of the limo up to the door. I just rolled my eyes while I followed her. I hated this. A lot. "Come on, Daddy! Answer the door!"

It didn't take long for him to answer the door. "Hello, my darling Marcy! And who might... oh my. You share the mark. Come in, please. I can't believe my little girl has found someone she's willing to share the mark with."

"I can hardly believe it. She practically _stole _my heart the first time I saw her." Marcy stomped on my foot. We both jumped with the pain. It was actually kind of funny. Finally she got a taste of her own medicine.

"So tell me, how _did _you two meet?" We both looked at Marcy expectantly for the answer.

"Well... He... And I... Hmm..."

"Must be an interesting story if even she's at a loss for words."

"You have no idea."


	4. Royalty?

~Alex's POV~

"So what's your name?"

"I'm Damien." Somehow that name felt really familiar. I couldn't place my finger on it, but I knew I had heard of a Damien before. I think he was someone important.

I just shrugged it off. "Nice name."

"Oh my gosh Daddy! Isn't Alex like, so amazing?"

"Yes, he sure does seem that way." They started talking as if I wasn't there. I just kept trying to remember where I had heard of Damien before. _Where have I heard of that name? _I rolled my eyes whenever Marcy talked. She was way too hyper for comfort.

"Now let me show you around, Alex." Now, this place was huge. It took about three hours to show me around. Afterwards all of our fangs were extended. And I was faced with a dilemma: I still felt queezy at the sight of blood, no matter how much my body begged for it. My mind just couldn't bend around it.

"Oh Daddy? Can you give Alex some blood mixed in with something else? He's newly turned and he still doesn't like the idea."

"Of course, my angel." It took longer to get us blood with that added effect, but it still took only a minute. Vampire speed was pretty cool, I had to admit. "Here ou are. I promise all you'll taste is the juice.

He was quite right. It tasted delicious, and I was able to fool my mind into thinking it was only juice. Of course, if it was only juice, I wouldn't have been able to digest it at all. My body would have convulsed and I would have probably ended up in the hospital. The trick was not to let my mind know that.

After we were ready to go home, Marcy gave her dad a huge hug. I rolled my eyes again. This girl was overwhelming to say the least. "Bye, Daddy! I'll see you soon, ok?" On the way home, all she could do was glare at me.

"What?"

"That was my Daddy! I'm his little girl! Couldn't you at least pretend to like me?"

"I could have."

"But you didn't, you meany!" I stopped. She kidnapped me, marked me without my consent, and killed my family. And I was the mean one?"

"Ok. I'm sorry." Not. She just crossed her arms and huffed while she walked away. I rolled my eyes for the umpteenth time. Moody much?

"Why do you have to be so mean?"

"Why do you have to be so moody?" She glared at me again.

~Claire's POV~

"So, Luke seems cool."

"He's amazing! Oh my God!"

"So tell me more about him. I want to get to know him enough to make a judgment."

"Well, he's like really sweet, even though he's popular. How many popular guys are sweet, Calire? I mean really. And he..." She continued to describe him. I listened, enthralled by her descrition. Of course, I had no idea how much of it was real and how much was a lovesick puppy's interpretation, but what I heard I was quite pleased with.

The only thing was, what I heard made me a little bit too happy. Luke seemed like the perfect guys, and I felt a stab of jealousy running through me. My perfect guys was a vampire. And I would never meet him.

Little did I know that I most definitely would meet him and the story would be so complicated it would make even my head spin,though I was a part of it.

~Alex's POV~

"Where have I heard the name Damien before, MarcyA? I know I've heard it!"

"I don't know. Depends on how much you've heard about vampires."

"Whatever. I'm going down to the library."

"Ok. See you later Sweety." I thought I was going to throw up because of the pet name. I probably would have if my body was still capable of it.

I went down to the library and looked up every book I could on vampiric history. If Damien was as important as he seemed to be, he would be in at least one of them. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Lucky for me I had vampire speed and sight or I never would have been able to search for all of the books they had. I onyl really needed one though. He ended up being mentioned in all of them. My heart would have stopped if it was still beating.

_King Damien. _Marcy was a princess.


	5. Help Me!

~Claire's POV~

Sophie and I spent the day hanging out with Luke and his friends. They actually turned out to be pretty nice. They adored Sophie, which was good seeing as she was dating their best friend.

I got home and sat on my bed, getting out my laptop. I started checking my e-mail, breathing deeply and rubbing my neck to release all of my frustration. An entire day of boys. Yuck! Oh well. Can't take it back now.

I stop as I hear a tapping noise. I looked around for a while, but I couldn't see anything that would cause a tapping noise. So I sank back into my chair and started typing again. But the tapping noise came again.

I stood up when I realized it was coming from my window. I walked over to it. My eyes widened as I saw who it was. Alex. I opened the window, looking around first to see if no one was looking. "What are you doing here?" I hissed.

"Let me in. I need your help." I sighed and pulled him into my room, closing the door behind me. I immediately noticed that Alex was... to say the least, different. My eyes widened again.

"You're... Oh God. Alex... ok. Who changed you?"

"Marcy." I froze.

"Marcy. As in the princess of the vampires?"

"Yeah. Hey how do you know that?"

"It's easy to find information about vampires Alex. All you have to do is be willing to look."

"I need your help! I don't know what to do." It was then that I noticed the mark on his neck. I started stuttering.

"M- M- M-." i shook my head to clear it and then asked Alex to confirm the facts. "Marcy marked you?"

"That's what I need your help with. I don't know what to do. And you're the only one I can think of who might know how to help." I collapsed onto my bed and closed my eyes, shaking my head hoping this would just go away.

Alex was a vampire. And I wanted a vampire more than anything. And I couldn't have him because he was claimed by the freaking VAMPIRE PRINCESS!!!! And he was here, asking for my help. And I couldn't help him. this could not be happening to me.

"Alex, there's no way to get rid of that thing. It stays on until either one of you die, or you BOTH agree to take it off. I really can't help you." Alex sighed and sat down next to me.

"Well I really hate her. I'm going out of my mind here, Claire." He sighed and looked at me. "Well, can we at least be friends? I really don't want Marcy sticking me in a cage for the rest of my life."

"Of course." Alex really didn't seem happy with the turnouts, but he smiled at me before leaving. Well, he reached out for a hug, but I shook my head. he would go through a lot of pain if he touched me. i wasn't going to let him do that to himself. Alex left, and I collapsed onto my bed and cried my eyes out. I had my vampire. But I could never have him.


	6. Torture Time

~Claire's POV~

Marcy glared at my outstretched hand. I laughed. "I don't bite. That's your job, isn't it?" Marcy hung her mouth open in shock. Alex covered his mouth to stop the laugh dying to come out of it.

"I'm Marcy," she mumbled, grudgingly taking my hand and giving it a quick shake. I had a feeling that if we weren't in a public place, I would be dead by now.

"See, Alex? She seems a lot more civil than you tried to tell me." Marcy turned around and glared at Alex. He just shrugged. He had kind of told me that, but I was kind of stretching it. But hey. She had my vampire. That meant war.

"You are so mean, Alex." She started pouting. Alex just smiled at me and followed me, walking away from her. She stood up, flaring with anger and started walking up behind us.

"You know you're really pushing it with this."

"She can't kill me without killing herself."

"But she can kill me!"

"Not in public. Everyone would freak." I shrugged. He had a good point. Marcy caught up to us at that point. She pushed her finger into my chest, pushing me backwards.

"You stay away from us. He doesn't want you anymore. He has me." I laughed. It was hard to stop myself. He definitely didn't want her. He wanted her to die.

"But Marcy, he came to see me. I was merely returning the favor." Marcy glared at me for almost a full minute. Then she turned around, glared at Alex, grabbed him by the wrist and pulled.

She must have pulled too hard, because they both pulled back with a loud, "Ow!" Alex shook his wrist once, while Marcy started cradling it like it was an injured infant. Wow. She was such a baby. Oh well. Tie to go find Luke and Sophie.

I found them in one of the dress stores. I had had my fill of chaos for now. I would torture Marcy later. For now, I had to help Sophie find the perfect dress. I really wasn't sure about what I was going to do, though. I didn't exactly have a date. I had a potential one, but seeing as he couldn't even touch me without him going through pain, I highly doubted that was going to happen.

Sophie came out dressed in a yellow dress. I pinched my nose and shook my head. "You have purple hair, Sophie. Yellow just doesn't work." Sophie looked at herself in the mirror and immediately nodded. She went back in and came out with a light blue one. "That one's not bad."

This was the problem with having purple hair. It was really hard to match something with it. Either it looked great or it looked horrible. There really was no middle ground. We spent the rest of the day finding Sophie the perfect dress. "We'll find the perfect one for you tomorrow, Claire. I promise."

"I don't even know if I'm going to go."

"You've got to!"

"I don't have a date, Sophie. How retarded would that be to go without a date?" Sophie pursed her lips.

"We'll just have to find you one then." I groaned. Sophie trying to find me a guy. That could not end well.

"Whatever! Let's just go home." Sophie shrugged and we walked up to Luke's car. The entire ride home, all Sophie did was giggle. I couldn't blame her really. Even though Luke wasn't a vampire, he still was amazing. Rich, hot, and nice. By Sophie's standards, that was perfect. By mine, he would be perfect if only one thing changed: if he was a vampire. I had a vampire. Had him in the palm of my hands. And yet I couldn't have him.

I sighed and collapsed onto my bed. I opened my window to let a breeze in and started reading my book. "Why do you always open the window when you read?"

"What are you doing here, Alex? Haven't you tortured Marcy enough for one day?"

"Not really." I sighed. Oh, Alex. He was a lot more obnoxious than I remembered him. "Can I try something?"

"Sure...?" Next thing I knew, alex was a centimeter away from me. He pressed his lips onto me. I widened my eyes as he grunted slightly and winced of pain. He lied down on the floor and closed his eyes. I couldn't tell if he was smiling or frowning, honestly. I slapped him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It was worth it."

"You're going to get yourself killed one of these days, Alex."

"I don't care. It was worth it." He reached out for my hair but I pulled back. Oh, no. I was not letting this boy put himself through pain for me. Alex just shrugged at me and smiled. "It was worth it."


	7. Worth It

~Claire's POV~

Marcy glared at my outstretched hand. I laughed. "I don't bite. That's your job, isn't it?" Marcy hung her mouth open in shock. Alex covered his mouth to stop the laugh dying to come out of it.

"I'm Marcy," she mumbled, grudgingly taking my hand and giving it a quick shake. I had a feeling that if we weren't in a public place, I would be dead by now.

"See, Alex? She seems a lot more civil than you tried to tell me." Marcy turned around and glared at Alex. He just shrugged. He had kind of told me that, but I was kind of stretching it. But hey. She had my vampire. That meant war.

"You are so mean, Alex." She started pouting. Alex just smiled at me and followed me, walking away from her. She stood up, flaring with anger and started walking up behind us.

"You know you're really pushing it with this."

"She can't kill me without killing herself."

"But she can kill me!"

"Not in public. Everyone would freak." I shrugged. He had a good point. Marcy caught up to us at that point. She pushed her finger into my chest, pushing me backwards.

"You stay away from us. He doesn't want you anymore. He has me." I laughed. It was hard to stop myself. He definitely didn't want her. He wanted her to die.

"But Marcy, he came to see me. I was merely returning the favor." Marcy glared at me for almost a full minute. Then she turned around, glared at Alex, grabbed him by the wrist and pulled.

She must have pulled too hard, because they both pulled back with a loud, "Ow!" Alex shook his wrist once, while Marcy started cradling it like it was an injured infant. Wow. She was such a baby. Oh well. Tie to go find Luke and Sophie.

I found them in one of the dress stores. I had had my fill of chaos for now. I would torture Marcy later. For now, I had to help Sophie find the perfect dress. I really wasn't sure about what I was going to do, though. I didn't exactly have a date. I had a potential one, but seeing as he couldn't even touch me without him going through pain, I highly doubted that was going to happen.

Sophie came out dressed in a yellow dress. I pinched my nose and shook my head. "You have purple hair, Sophie. Yellow just doesn't work." Sophie looked at herself in the mirror and immediately nodded. She went back in and came out with a light blue one. "That one's not bad."

This was the problem with having purple hair. It was really hard to match something with it. Either it looked great or it looked horrible. There really was no middle ground. We spent the rest of the day finding Sophie the perfect dress. "We'll find the perfect one for you tomorrow, Claire. I promise."

"I don't even know if I'm going to go."

"You've got to!"

"I don't have a date, Sophie. How retarded would that be to go without a date?" Sophie pursed her lips.

"We'll just have to find you one then." I groaned. Sophie trying to find me a guy. That could not end well.

"Whatever! Let's just go home." Sophie shrugged and we walked up to Luke's car. The entire ride home, all Sophie did was giggle. I couldn't blame her really. Even though Luke wasn't a vampire, he still was amazing. Rich, hot, and nice. By Sophie's standards, that was perfect. By mine, he would be perfect if only one thing changed: if he was a vampire. I had a vampire. Had him in the palm of my hands. And yet I couldn't have him.

I sighed and collapsed onto my bed. I opened my window to let a breeze in and started reading my book. "Why do you always open the window when you read?"

"What are you doing here, Alex? Haven't you tortured Marcy enough for one day?"

"Not really." I sighed. Oh, Alex. He was a lot more obnoxious than I remembered him. "Can I try something?"

"Sure...?" Next thing I knew, alex was a centimeter away from me. He pressed his lips onto me. I widened my eyes as he grunted slightly and winced of pain. He lied down on the floor and closed his eyes. I couldn't tell if he was smiling or frowning, honestly. I slapped him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It was worth it."

"You're going to get yourself killed one of these days, Alex."

"I don't care. It was worth it." He reached out for my hair but I pulled back. Oh, no. I was not letting this boy put himself through pain for me. Alex just shrugged at me and smiled. "It was worth it."


	8. Needing You

~Alex's POV~

Claire was absolutely freaking out, but all I was doing was smiling. Sure, there was a sudden wave of pain that was actually enough to make me wince (it takes a lot to make a vampire wince). But, to be honest, I expected worse. I expected to fall on my back or something of the sort. But I had to do it. I had to kiss her. I couldn't take it anymore.

"I can't believe you went to see her again!"

"Marcy, I can't touch her without going through pain! I think you've really got nothing to worry about. You're being ridiculous." Marcy just huffed and walked away. I smiled. Sure, I went through pain, but I meant what I said. It was worth it. It was completely worth it.

I thought about Claire. How her hair stood out among everything and served as a tracker which I constantly used to find her. How whenever she smiled, her entire face seemed to glisten and brighten slightly. How whenever she was nervous she started tapping her fingers against her hand like a drum. How everything about her made me go insane wanting to hold her, kiss her, touch her. How she could only think of the pain I went through if I did. She didn't realize, did she? She didn't realize that it was so much more painful to be next to her and not touch her than to touch her and cause a minor physical pain. Oh, silly, silly Claire. She didn't quite realize how much she meant to me. What I was willing to do.

"Stop daydreaming about that disgusting human! You have me!" She walked forward few steps, trying to suck me in and make me give into those lush, flaunting curves. I just laughed and started to walk away. Hips? Claire had everything in her very being to attract me to her, and Marcy had her hips. Yeah, I couldn't predict how that match would go...

"Stop it! Stop it! Please, Alex. I need you." She flung herself into my unwilling arms, throwing her arms around my neck and kissing my cheek repeatedly. The sticky feeling coming off of her lipstick was making me feel nauseated.

"Marcy, just because you marked me doesn't mean that I am yours. I'll never belong to you." With that, I pushed her onto the floor and walked away. She started screaming at me, but I kept walking. Marcy had her hips. Claire had her everything. It really wasn't much of a contest.


	9. Sick Sister

~Claire's POV~

School. Enough said. You can already tell, just by saying that one word, that I was both bored to tears and feeling dejected due to all of the stares I was receiving. That and all of the people walking up to me, making me think I would talk to them, and then suddenly asking "aren't you the sister of the chick dating Luke?" Honestly, I was pretty much ready to crawl into a hole and die.

Sophie was sick for the day, making it even worse. Problem was, everyone notices when the popular boy's girlfriend is missing. They notice that the boyfriend is sitting all alone, just waiting for someone to snatch him away. At least Luke realized that before he came to school. If he had flirted with anyone, he would be dead. Instead, he was sitting with me to avoid the crowd.

No one wanted the sister of the girlfriend to know that they were out to eliminate the competition, so no girls bothered us for the most part. Although Luke's friends came and they were... loud...

Practically every sentence he said made me bust up laughing. I had never really paid attention, but now that I thought about it he was pretty funny. Just another tick of perfection to add to my sister's jackpot. I couldn't help but let the bitterness come over me. I had perfection. But there was a glass wall in between. Oh, the cruelty of it all.

When I got home, I checked in on Sophie. Poor thing had a really nasty temperature. Don't know where she got it, but it had pretty much attacked her entire body. Her throat was sore, she looked pale, and she had to force her stomach to even think about eating without throwing up. I put a cold washcloth over her head for a little while to cool her down and then took it off, taking care of everything else she needed.

The problem with having my sister sick was that all of the people who usually hung out with her suddenly swarmed around me. I thought I was going to suffocate when I arrived at school in the morning with people asking things like "is she alright?" "Did her fever break?" And such worried exchanges as "She hasn't missed two days in a row since third grade!"

"She'll be fine! It'll be ok, guys."

"I hope you don't mind if I intrude, but I really must ask her about my girlfriend." All of the girls giggled, the guys just grumbled and walked away. "Better?"

"Much. Thanks."

"No problem." We walked together for the rest of the day, talking about random stuff and basically keeping everyone else off of our backs. It was nice. No one bugged me the entire day. Best day in a long time.


	10. Die For You

~Claire's POV~

When I walked into my room,I noticed a few things that had changed. I noticed how there was a slash running through almost everything I owned. And I also noticed the vampire sitting on my bed waiting for me. Immediately, Marcy pinned me to the wall. I didn't really fight her, like most people would do. That was pointless. She smiled at me. Ah, I had heard about this part. This was the part where she played with you and made you go crazy before she killed you.

"Hey, Claire! How are you?"

"Oh gee, I'm pinned to the wall about to die. Things are going just swell."

"Oh don't be like that! No one likes people when they're being pessimistic." She giggled at the irony of the scene playing out, making me grimace as her musical giggle rubbed my situation right in my face. "Hmm... It's no fun if you don't struggle Claire! You know that." Sure I did. I had read quite a bit about her. Did that mean that I was going to struggle? Nope.

"Let's see here. How to get you to struggle..." Her eyes brightened as she came up with an idea. I shifted my weight a little. This wasn't good. "I know! We need a bit of incentive, don't we?" She disappeared for a second or two. I looked around for where she went before turning around to try running. But before I even took a step she had me pinned to the wall again. But now she had somebody else pinned next to me. Sophie. "That's better! This will be so much more fun with two people. It always is."

"No! You get the hell away from my sister!" Marcy squealed with excitement as I tried to get out of her grip.

"See? That's much better!" She leaned an inch or two closer to Sophie, wondering how I would react. did the stupidest thing I had ever done. I punched her. I winced and pulled my fist back as it started to throb. Marcy just laughed. "Much, much better!"

A knock came at the front door. Marcy listened for a second or two and sighed. "Your boyfriend is worried about you, Sophie. Too bad that by the time he gets in here you both will by dead." Sophie tried desperately to get out of Marcy's grip and to the front door. "You know you're right! he should join us, shouldn't he? Everyone you know should join us really, Claire."

"That's not funny."

"It's not a joke. Hmm... when does your mom get home?"

Like I should..." I was cut off as she choked me. She smiled and pulled back, urging me to continue. "She... Oh whatever just kill me! Do it! I'm not letting you bring her down with me." Marcy laughed.

"Kill you? But what if Alex does it again? One meager human girl..." She sneered at me, noting everything about me with pure disdain, "will eventually not be enough to stop him. An entire group caused by a single act would most definitely cause some damage though." My head started spinning. She was going to kill everyone. Maybe even the entire town. She had no morals to stop her, so why wouldn't she?

I didn't even register the flash that came across my eyes it was so quick. Within a second, Sophie and I were sinking to the floor, breathing rapidly as we tried to recover. Sophie took off towards the door to go to Luke. I just sat there and looked at the scene playing out before me.

I had never seen Alex so angry before. He wasn't hurting her, but the glare he was sending her made the way he felt about her all too clear. "You can't hurt me Alex. So you might as well get out of the way."

"I'm willing to hurt you, even kill you if it means protecting Claire."

"You're... You're willing to die for her?"

"Yes I am. You can't win this Marcy. I'm not going to let you." Marcy started to run away and Alex started to chase her. They were both gone. And, right when they disappeared, Luke and Sophie came into the room. Sophie looked around the room nervously, but she hadn't told Luke apparently, because he was completely calm.

"Hey guys. What's up. Luke?"

"Just came to check in on Sophie."

"I feel a lot better than... achoo!" Luke and I both laughed.

"You may feel better Sophie, but you've still got a long way to go before you're ok. Go to bed. Now."

"Why were you up in the first place?"

"No reason!" Sophie spit out way too fast for comfort before running out of the room to go to sleep.


	11. Death Trap

Well, this was awkward. I was alone in a room with my sister's boyfriend while my sister was sneezing away in the room next to us. "So..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm bored. And you should probably leave. Our parents will get home soonand you'll be stuck here for hours while they interrogate you about your intentions with Sophie."

"Yeah. I think I'll leave. Bye."

"Bye." When he got out of my room, I sighed and went into Sophie's room to check in on her.

"So Alex became a vampire?"

"Yeah. But Marcy marked him."

"Was she the chick that just tried to kill us?"

"Yeah. Things aren't going the way she planned them to go. Hey, why didn't you tell Luke?"

"I don't know. I just didn't like the idea of him knowing a vampire has murder plans going for my sister. That probably would have scared him off."

"Probably." We both took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

"Alex makes a good vampire. He was looking great." I giggled.

"Even in this state you can think about that stuff?"

"Well, hey. I wouldn't mind having Alex defy the mate mark to chase after me! And I know you don't mind it. You love it, don't you?"

"Yeah. I really do." We both sat there in silence for a while. Finally, our parents got home. "I'll go let them in."

"Hi Mom. Hi Dad."

"Did you get started on dinner at all?"

"No... Should I have?"

"Well, we didn't specifically tell you but we would appreciate it so much."

"Well then I'm on it." I went into the kitchen and started fixing dinner as my mom and dad went into their room.

"Can I help?"

"Aren't you supposed to be plotting Marcy's murder or something?"

"Meh. I'll get to it later." I must say, having a vampire in the palm of my hands was definitely the best thing that had ever happened to me.


	12. 12

~Claire's POV~

After Marcy had attacked me, Alex spent almost every second of my life watching over me. He had suddenly become my protector. I actually liked it. Knowing I was safe, knowing Alex was watching me, everything seemed to fall into place. Of course, one event just had to happen that changed all of that.

Apparently, Alex had finally acted on his murder plans. He had some vampire chick he met kill Marcy. I'm guessing that she probably expected to get the mate mark in return but... no such luck.

But everything changed. Immediately. First off, there was nothing stopping Alex from touching me. Second, I could have Alex. And he could have me. All that needed to happen was for him to make me into a vampire. Problem was, I was terrified of becoming a vampire.

"Come on, Claire. You'll enjoy it a lot! Once you get used to it, it's actually really cool!"

"No! No no no! Get your fangs away from me!" Alex sighed and pulled away.

"I want you to be mine, Claire. I want you so badly."

"I do too. But... I'm afraid..."

"I'll help you through it." He leaned in slowly until he was right in front of me. He was moving slowly, waiting for me to stop him. I didn't. Not until I felt his fangs. Then I immediately stiffened and pulled away.

"I can't. I just can't." Alex sighed and nodded. He kissed my forehead and disappeared.

I wanted Alex. I wanted him so badly. I could practically feel Alex running through my veins. But I was too terrified to let him bite me. What if he sucked me dry? What if I couldn't handle drinking blood? What if... oh I didn't even know what exactly I was afraid of. But I was afraid. Really afraid.

"Claire come on! We're going over to Luke's house!"

"Ok." I let Sophie drag me into the car and we drove to the car as we talked about random stuff. The entire time, I was so distracted. All I could think about was Alex. I was scared. But I really didn't want to lose him. What was I going to do?


	13. 13

~Claire's POV~

I felt so confused as I watched the movie with Luke and Sophie cuddled up next to me. I had no clue what I was going to do. Why on Earth did I decide I wanted a vampire. _Because vampires are sexy, immortal, strong, shall I go on? _No, self. You shouldn't. I knew all that. But I didn't really think about the actual biting part. I mean, of course if I ever got a vampire they would want to turn me into a vampire too. But... the idea of them almost sucking me dry and then having me taste their blood while I was still human... ew. I really didn't like that idea.

The movie we were watching had no plot line, so I didn't really have to concentrate to follow it well. I looked at Sophie and Luke curled up next to each other. No regrets, no worries, no fears, no... fangs... suddenly, falling for a human didn't seem so horrible.

I looked at Sophie with a stab of jealousy. Why was I jealous? Wha- oh. Oh boy. Problem is, my mind absorbs things way too well. "I need to go..."

"But Claire-"

"No. I'm leaving. I'll walk home."

"That'll take you hours."

"It's no problem. I've got to think about things anyways." With that, I rushed out of the house and started walking down the street.

My mind was way too good at listening to its thoughts. Ok, that made no sense, but in the same sense it did. It absorbed everything and wouldn't let it go until a new idea came up. And right there, it had absorbed that falling for a human wouldn't be so bad. And, if you were going to fall for a human, you couldn't possibly do any better than Luke. So now... well, everything had changed. Everything in my mind had flipped and now... now I had fallen for my sister's boyfriend.

Our first conversation slammed into my head, only driving the situation further into my brain. _"If you ever hurt her, I'm coming after you."_

_"Don't worry. I don't intend to." _I had never predicted, at the time, that Luke wouldn't be the one I had to worry about. I had never predicted that I was the problem. Never in a million years would I have thought.

Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid! What was I going to do? _You should have never hung out with him! You knew you were putting yourself in a bad situation._

_No I didn't! I had Alex! I thought that was all I would ever want..._

_Then what the hell was that "falling for a human doesn't seem so bad" crap? You knew exactly what you were thinking! You knew what you were doing. _It was the argument again. I had messed up again. And now, again, my conscience was having a war over whether or not it was all my fault.

I walked past an alley and, next thing I knew, I was pinned to the wall fifty feet into the alley even though I had been nowhere near it. I looked at the guy who was holding me. He seemed the like the leader of the group in front of me. There were four of them total. And, as soon as they smiled, I knew exactly why I had gone so far before I could even blink. Their glistening fangs sent a jolt of fear into my heart. No! There was only one vampire allowed to touch me. _Alex! _Unfortunately, the idea that vampires can read minds is a myth and Alex hadn't watched over me for a while. Guess he had assumed I was safe with Marcy gone.

"Hello, Darling." His voice was rather playful, and by the look on his face, he had something planned that I wasn't going to like. I squirmed under his penetrating gaze. He squeezed my wrists and I shut my eyes to block the pain. I stopped moving immediately. "That's better. Pets should never try to get away." Pets. That was not good. Alex. Where the hell was Alex?


	14. 14

~Alex's POV~

I had no clue what to do. Claire wouldn't let me bite her. At all. I was absolutely desperate. I couldn't even look at her without the urge to bite her and make her mine. But I didn't want to do exactly what she told me not to. So I held myself back. I... avoided her. I had to. Whenever I was near her I got closer to insanity.

I sighed as I looked around the house. I only ever went in when Claire wasn't there at this point. I wondered why she wasn't there, and I sniffed briefly around. I froze when I smelled something that shouldn't have been there: vampires. With Claire. They seemed to be about one hundred meters away. I quickly ran out of the house and towards their scents.

~Claire's POV~

I shivered as the vampire's fangs grazed over my skin. He smirked at my reaction and pulled back to examine my face. "It's alright. It won't seem so terrifying in a bit." With that he breathed in deeply. Immediately, his eyes went red and his fangs extended further. I screamed and closed my eyes as his fangs quickly descended towards my neck.

A crash sounded and I fell to the ground. I opened my eyes to see the four vampires glaring at someone. I could only see the back of their head at the moment. They all glared for another moment before walking slowly out of the alley. My savior turned around I sighed with relief. "Alex. I thought... I thought you weren't going to save me."

Alex bent down and picked me up gently, sighing as he examined me. "You haven't eaten as much."

"I didn't even notice..." Alex sighed. "I don't know. I don't think there's a specific reason."

"Let's get you home." By the time I blinked we were in my room. I collapsed into my safe bed and clung to Alex for dear life.

Sophie and Luke came into the house then. Alex left the room while they walked in. "Oh good! We just wanted to check on you. Make sure you made it here safely."

I stared at their hands clasped together as I answered. "Yeah. I'm fine." I relaxed slightly as they undid their hands. I felt horrible about this. But... I couldn't exactly help it. Sophie hugged me and I hugged her back, even though I really didn't deserve it.

"I'm glad to hear that. I'm going to bed, ok? Luke, it's time for you to go."

"Bye." They kissed. In front of me. Hopefully, the wince produced by it went unnoticed. It did. I could tell. They were too busy... kissing. In front of me. Oh God, I was so pathetic wasn't I?

They finally walked out and Alex came back in. He looked dead. "You... you..."

"I'm... sorry... I didn't mean to! I..."

~Alex's POV~

Everything seemed to start spinning and I almost fell backwards. I loved her. I loved her so much. And she was... she wasn't mine anymore. Maybe partially, but she wasn't mine. I turned around, took one look back at her crestfallen face, and walked out.


	15. 15

~Claire's POV~

After that night, multiple things happened. Enough to make my head spin. First off, Alex wasn't wrong. I wasn't not eating before. I was not eating now. It wasn't that I was in mourning or that I had lost the will to live or anything. It was that I was distracted. I was distracted by the second thing that had changed, I hadn't seen Alex in months. I think he had actually given up on me.

Third... was the creepy one. I was experiencing it now. The fifth vampire that had tried to bite me this month leaned into my neck, smelling my blood. I shivered at the touch of his fangs. "You smell so nice." He leaned in and, before I could move out of the waay, he bit me.

I had actually gotten used to it by now. I didn't even scream. I just shivered and sank towards the floor. Of course, he didn't let me as he supported my weight. Was he actually going to succeed? I really hoped not. And my hopes were answered. Luke and Sophie started to open the door. As soon as the door clicked, the vampire was gone.

"Hey!"

"Hey... guys..." I said, quickly raising my collar slightly to hide the bite mark. "What you doing here?"

"We're going to the movies."

"Why do I have to go everywhere with you?"

"Because you love me," Sophie giggled slightly as she said it and dragged me out of the room to the car. Not that I minded them dragging me everywhere. It kept me in public places and away from any vampires. So really it was helping me.

Plus, I was with Luke... _Stop that thought right there! Don't you think it... Don't you dare. _Yeah. That could actually be counted as a negative, I guess. Every moment around him made my forbidden attraction run deeper in my veins. The battle I was having with myself to not like Luke was definitely not going well.

The movie was interesting... although the blood made a few heads turn towards me, revealing that I hadn't in fact avoided all of the vampires. Although Sophie and Luke were rather confused when I rushed into the car. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Can you just take Sophie and me home, please?"

"Only if you relax." Don't know if that was possible.

"Sure." The car started going down the road, making me sigh with relief as the red eyes turned around and walked away.

We got to the house and both Sophie and I collapsed onto my bed to talk for a bit. Suddenly, we heard a crash. We bolted into sitting positions, looking at each other. Two vampires came into the room. Both of which had bright red eyes to show just how badly they wanted blood. "I call light purple," one said, dragging Sophie over to a corner and pinning her to the wall.

"I call _dark _purple," the other one said. I shivered at the way he said dark. I had an idea he really enjoyed things that were dark. He pinned me to the wall, but I had been through this before. It had really become a familiar routine. I looked over to look at Sophie, who hadn't gone through this. There were tears running down her cheeks.

"Let her go..." I whispered. The vampire holding me laughed.

"Why would I do that? My friend deserves a slave just as much as I do..." he leaned in towards my neck as I tried to get away from him, even though I was pretty sure that was useless.

"Just let her go!" I screamed. The vampire slammed his palm against the wall so loudly it hurt my ears. I flinched and Sophie choked out another sob. Great. I didn't think anything was going to save me this time. This was really it, wasn't it? For both of us.

But it wasn't. A flash went across the room and the vampires crashed into the wall. Sophie crawled over to me and hugged me crying into my shoulder. "What just happened?" I didn't answer. I couldn't. The only thing I could register, at all, was the vampire standing in front of me. Alex. I took one look at him and fainted.


	16. 16

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

~Claire's POV~

I bolted up into a sitting position and looked around. "Alex! Where's Alex?"

"He left. He made sure you were ok and then jumped out of the window. He said he might come back later, but probably not..."

I sighed. "Guess he hasn't forgiven me yet."

"For what?" She narrowed her eyes at me. "What did you do?"

"Nothing that I could help." _Liar. _**Shut up.**

Sophie looked at me, expecting me to say more, but after a while she realized I wasn't planning on it. She sighed. "Claire... what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Sophie glared at me briefly.

"I mean this!" Sophie screamed, pulling my shirt off of my neck to reveal the place where I had been bitten repeatedly. "That vampire didn't get a chance to bite you, Claire! Something else happened. What... What are you hiding from me?"

"Nothing." Hopefully she didn't notice the nervous fluctuation of my voice. By the narrowing of her eyes, I could tell she did.

"I wouldn't call this nothing," she hissed. I sighed. I just didn't want her to worry! What was wrong with me protecting her?

"Sophie. I... I don't want you to worry about me, ok? I've got some things going on that I don't want you a part of. I want you to not ask me about this again, alright?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Sophie's head shot up and she let out a gasp at the glistening fangs. I had recognized the voice. This vampire had already tried to bite me three times before.

"Sophie, leave."

"No. Why don't you stay." He took a step towards us and Sophie jumped behind me. I sighed.

"Honestly, don't you ever give up?" With that Sophie looked at me with an incredulous expression. That was probably the wrong time to show any familiarity with a vampire... "Sophie," I whispered. "I'm going to back away towards the door. As soon as we get close enough to it, you're going to run out of it and run as far away from the hose as you can. Get lost in a crowd."

"What are you talking about? He'll kill you." I grimaced.

"No he won't." I wasn't lying. I had figured out long ago that my blood wasn't exactly what they wanted. It was in a sense, but that wasn't reason they were trying to bite me. I wasn't letting Sophie get bitten in the process of me trying to get away. Once she got out, I would figure out how I could escape.

Sophie ran out of the door. The vampire rolled his eyes. "Very clever." Within a second I was pinned against the wall. "You haven't changed one bit." I kicked him as hard as I could and he... didn't move at all. "You honestly think a human could hurt me?"

"No but I bet I could." I looked over to see Alex. Again. The vampire smiled.

"Let's see how long your boyfriend can last." I really didn't want to see this. I decided I would go find Sophie. Yeah... that could work...

~Alex's POV~

The vampire was overly cocky. He cracked his knuckles and smiled. "Let's get this started." He lasted about twenty seconds. I had gotten a lot stronger lately.

Claire had already left. Assumedly to go find Sophie. It was rather painful to stay away from her. But I had to. It wasn't because I was angry at her... which she undoubtedly thought... it was because I had to protect her. I was going through some problems. And it wasn't fair to get Claire involved in them.

Of course, I hadn't expected Claire to attract so many vampires. Her neck made me flinch at the sight of it when I had discovered that she was bitten. It was horrifying. I had no clue what to do. Protect Claire or... protect Claire... because that really made sense.

There was a scream. Sophie's scream. Apparently she had attracted her fair share of vampires herself. I could hear Claire pumping her legs to get to them. I couldn't let her do that. I couldn't let Claire put herself in danger.

I ran towards the sound and reached Claire within seconds. She was frozen with shock at the sight of what was in the alley. It was that group of punk vampires who had cornered Claire when she was trying to get home from Luke's house. They all let out malicious smiles.

"Looky here, boys. Look who found their way back to us." Claire turned around to run, but one of the vampires immediately got in the way. "And we get her sister too. This just can't get any sweeter."

"Get the hell away from them." All four of them growled under their breath. The leader, after thinking for a second or two, smiled.

"Not this time." With that, he appeared in front of me, menacing and angry. Bring it on.


	17. 17

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

~Claire's POV~

The vampire's fangs grazed over my neck, making me shiver. "Your little boyfriend should be over any minute." His eyes sparkled with mischief as he said that, just as they had in our first encounter. Again, this wasn't going to be something I liked. "This should be fun."

"What are you talking about?" He squeezed my throat a bit, leaving me gasping for air.

"First of all, I didn't give you permission to speak. Second, I like playing with people. So does my brother over here." Apparently they were brothers. That was beyond creepy.

The other vampire smirked at Sophie who, being unexperienced in these situations, was shivering like a wet cat. I felt terrible for her. "You know, I'm glad we could finally get rid of those other vampires. They were pathetic, really. Unorganized, dim-witted pons for us to move around. Dead weight."

"Couldn't agree more. All they wanted was a toy. But they didn't see that they had millions of them in front of their very eyes." The vampires looked at Sophie and me at that point and laughed. "Yes. Humans make fun toys."

I decided to go for the shock factor. I waited for him to get comfortable and relax a bit before kicking him. He was shocked enough to let go, thankfully, and I grabbed Sophie and started running away. Of course I forgot: I was running away from two things that were hundreds of times faster than my eye could even register. It wasa pointless to try.

The vampires laughed as they pulled us back over to our corners. Each of us were cornered in a different one, I suppose to make sure we were separate and therefore easier to torture. Something like that. These vampires had twisted minds.

The vampire holding me gave me a stern look. "Now that wasn't a very good thing to do." He leaned into my neck, making me freeze as I felt his fangs. "I just might have to punish you..." he trailed off, placing a kiss on the spot where numerous vampires had already bitten me. I closed my eyes. I had a feeling I knew what the punishment would be.

He laughed at my fearful face and looked me in the eye. I shut my eyes as he put my hair behind my ears. His touch was freezing cold. Like being touched by an icicle. Way different from Alex's.

"Let them go and I might let you live." My eyes shot open. The vampire smirked at me.

"Finally the games begin." He got up and looked at his brother, who was sharing the same smirk.

I tried to get up to warn Alex about how messed up their minds are, but apparently they had expected that. I didn't even notice, but they had chained me to the wall. I looked over and Sophie was in the same state. She was crying too. I looked from Sophie, to my feet, to Alex. He had better be a good fighter. And smart enough to outsmart two gamers. If they managed to hurt him, I don't know what I would do.

"Let's have some fun." the vampires said, smiling tauntingly at Alex. Alex had already gotten his muscles a bit weaker than normal fighting the other two vampires I couldn't watch this. I covered my eyes.

For an entire minute, all I could hear was crashing, taunts being thrown around, and Sophie trying to gain control of her sobbing. After that minute, my heart stopped beating for a second or two as I heard Sophie scream. "Claire!"

I opened my eyes to see that the vampire had his fangs grazing over my neck. The other vampire smirked. "You know, if you don't want your girl to be ours forever, I suggest you walk out." The gaming spirit in his voice sickened me. This wasn't about whether or not they got me (or at least not mainly), it was about games. It was about messing with Alex's mind to the point of breaking him down.

I clenched my eyes shut and kicked the vampire as hard as I could. He fell back a bit because he had been in a bad position for balance, but after that he recovered before I could blink twice. He smacked me and I slammed against the wall. I closed my eyes at the pain. I heard that gaming, taunting voice again. "Oo, looks like we've got a bit of blood on the playing field. We might not be the ones who end up biting her, don't you think."

And the other vampire answered, "I agree. The boy doesn't look so good." The voices kept going, continuing the taunting exchange, but I didn't hear them as they faded away in the back of my mind and I fell unconscious... again.


	18. 18

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

~Alex's POV~

The moment Claire started bleeding I froze. Her blood called out to me. More than anything. More than the need to protect her, more than my love for her, her blood sang to me. Begging for me to take it. To take it all from her lifeless body. The vampires smirked at me, waiting for the inevitable bite they expected. They had their games. But I wasn't going to let them be the winners.

I looked at Claire, who was slumped against the wall. A bit of red was on the wall, making me cringe. Sophie was absolutely bawling and calling out to me. "Don't do it! No! You're stronger than this!"

"Shut up!" one of the vampires screamed. They slammed her into the wall and, to my greatest dismay, she started bleeding and fell unconscious too. The vampires' grins grew even wider. "This just gets more and more interesting."

"This is the most enjoyable game we've ever played, I think."

"And this time we each get a prize." They laughed. They weren't going to let me bite them, of course. They wouldn't. They wanted them. Badly. But they would make me try. They would take away every ounce of morals I had. Bastards.

I looked at Sophie, flat on the floor, and Claire, slumped against the wall. It was impossible to fight. Simply impossible to resist. I ran over to Claire's limp form. I held my breath and quickly broke the chains holding her.

Almost instantly, she started stirring. The chains had been enchanted somehow, I supposed, to make her weaker. Easier to bleed. Easier to make fall unconscious (defenseless). I ran over and did the same with Sophie.

Both of them started getting up as the vampires started to look at each other, bewildered as to what went wrong. They thought it was possible for me to kill Claire, or even hurt anyone closer to her. No. That was impossible. Her blood was impossible to resist. So I found a way to not notice it. I would always find a way... for Claire...

One of the vampires settled into anger and ran over. He picked up Claire and started choking her. He smiled and scratched all the way down her arm. She couldn't even scream because she was choking so much. "You're telling me you're not tempted by this at all?"

I felt anger start to boil up inside me. I looked at Claire desperately trying to fight for air and ran over. I grabbed him by the throat. "Let her go."

"You know old habits die hard." I knew exactly what he meant. Vampires didn't technically need to breathe. But it was a habit. A reflex. Eventually, if you didn't your mind started playing tricks on you.

"I'll manage. Now let her go."

He smirked. "Alright." he threw her all the way to the other side of the room. I ran over to get her only to discover that, simultaneously, they were doing the same with Sophie. They had scratched her and thrown her towards the other side of the room.

"Save Sophie!" Claire screamed at me, even though doing so would cause a nasty impact on her end.

"Selfishly save the love of your life or selflessly sacrifice your feelings for her to listen to her? Interesting." He was speaking at vampire speed. Only I could understand him. They were taunting me. Making sure they had enough time to taunt me while giving me enough time to choose. They won. They got their game.

I flinched as I changed my course and caught Sophie. It sent a stab through my heart to do so. But there was no scream from Claire. I looked over and saw one of the vampies had caught her. "Selflessness. It's rather... pathetic. You really don't deserve her, do you? She deserves a person who knows what he wants." Claire started to try to wriggle out of his grasp.

He grabbed her butt, making both Claire and me gasp. Intoxicating blood filled my nostrils. Old habits die hard...


	19. 19

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

~Claire's POV~

Alex started hyperventilating and winced. "What's going on? What's happening to him?"

"He's struggling. This is what happens to vampires when they fight their instincts." I looked at Alex. The vampire started pulling me away. I managed to wiggle out of his arms and ran over to Alex.

"Alex. Alex! Look at me! Stay with me!" He was bobbing in and out of consciousness. "Alex..." The vampire started walking back towards me. I looked at Alex and started talking really quickly. I had to get this out before the vampire came. "No! No, Alex. I can't lose you... I can't..." The situation slammed into me.

I knew what I had to do. "Alex..." I looked at my bleeding arm. I closed my eyes, but held it over Alex's mouth. He didn't necessarily have to bite me... He could still get what he needed.

Alex shook his head furiously. He didn't want to. He wasn't sure if he could stop, probably. "I don't care. Drink!" The blood started to seep into his mouth. He opened his eyes and I gulped. They were blood red.

He took my arm in his hands and started drinking. And he drank fast. My eyes started to flutter closed. One of the vampires tried to pull him away from me, but Alex threw him across the room. "Al...ex... Stop... please..." I started to lose consciousness just as Alex pulled away.

"Claire! I'm so sorry. Stay with me! Claire..." I tried. I really did. But I couldn't listen to his command to stay with him. I collapsed onto the floor.

~Alex's POV~

Claire. Claire. No, no, no! I was freaking out. The vampires were furious. I didn't care. They started yelling at each other as I picked up Sophie and Claire and walked out. They were too distracted to stop me. My entire world was crashing down. Claire...

I took Sophie back to the house and ran Claire to a hospital. She had lost too much blood to take her to the house. The doctor took her away and I watched as her limp form was taken away from me. I couldn't deal with this.

The doctors ushered me out of the room and I sighed. Long after dark, they left her alone. I snuck into her room. They had a pack of blood being pumped into her veins. I couldn't let myself breathe around here. I sank into a chair next to her.

Claire. My Claire. I had hurt the love of my life. I stayed next to her until the doctors started to come in. I took one more look at Claire and rushed out. She had doctors to take care of her. I though of checking in on Sophie. Sophie was freaking out. She was fine physically, but not quite mentally.

As soon as I walked in, she started trying to punch me. I took it all, it felt like she was just poking me. "You hurt her! She trusted you! You..." she collapsed to the floor sobbing.

"I'm sorry."

"Is she going to be ok?"

"She should be. I took her to the hospital."

"Good... I... I'm sorry. She trusts you. She... She cares about you a lot, you know. I just... Ugh. I don't know. I worry about her."

"I do too. She'd be better without me..." She never would want to be without me, though. Would she? She loved me... and Luke, I noted rather bitterly. But things would be better if she was with Luke. problem was, she would never be with Luke. Claire would never do that to Sophie. So she wanted me. Even though she shouldn't.

She wanted a vampire... and she had one. She had me hooked. If only Claire could be normal and want a human. Things would be so much better. Claire... I knew, without a doubt, that she would forgive me as soon as she woke up. She shouldn't. She shouldn't. But she would...


	20. 20

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

~Claire's POV~

I had had the longest lasting dream of my life. And finally, I was able to struggle to open my eyes. I opened my mouth to speak, but one of the doctors beat me to it. "No, no. Don't speak right now. You're weak. You need to rest."

"Alex..." I managed to choke out before the doctor could stop me.

And, as I had predicted would happen, Alex walked in. The doctors seemed shocked. Apparently he hadn't been in here when they were around. But he was here now and that was all that mattered.

He looked down at me. He sighed. "I'm so sorry about this." The doctors looked at each other and left to give us some privacy. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I knew what I was doing." He sighed.

"Things would be so much better for you if I wasn't in it."

"I don't care. I don't care if my life goes to hell if you're there." He sighed and kissed my forehead.

"If I stay you'll get hurt again."

"I don't care."

"What about everyone else you know? You're putting them in danger too."

"I... I know. But I trust you to protect us."

"What if I let one of them die? Would you give up on me then?"

"You don't have it in you."

"I do for some people. Maybe Luke." I flinched.

"No. You wouldn't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Alex stop it. You're not going to convince me so stop it. I don't care, ok? You'll protect me. I know you will."

He sighed and looked down. "You would have a better life if I wasn't in it."

"NO. Stop it now." Alex sighed.

"You shouldn't forgive me." _I don't care._ "You should." _What the..._ "You really don't know this about vampires?" _But that was a myth._ "No. It wasn't." _Hey! That's an invasion of privacy!_ Alex smiled. "Are you angry at me now?" _No._ "Why?" _Well, it actually makes communication rather easier._ "But-" _Oh stop it Alex!_"You really aren't going to give up on this, are you?" _Never. _Alex sighed and kissed my forehead. "Then I'll be here for you." I smiled. Finally.

I was gaining back my strength pretty quickly. I started to sit up, but I felt dizzy. "Get some sleep. I'll bring you back home when the time comes, ok?"

"What about my parents?"

"They don't know. They think you're visiting at my house."

"Where do you live, anyways?"

"I'm still living at Marcy's house for now. Now go to sleep. You need rest."

"But I don't want to."

"Go to sleep."

"Bite me." Reckless impulses don't work very well sometimes... "Ok, or not..."

Alex laughed and kissed my forehead quickly. "Get some rest." Within a blink of an eye, he was gone. I sighed and sank onto the bed. Alex really thought he could convince me to not want him. But that was impossible. He was my vampire. And I would want him for as long as I lived.


	21. 21

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

~Claire's POV~

I arrived home and Sophie tackled me into a hug. "I thought I lost you."

"Don't worry Sophie. I'm fine." She smiled and hugged meagain before helping me up.

"Mom and Dad still think you were with Alex, so you won't get any uncomfortable questioning hopefully." I smiled and nodded. A knock came on the door. "Oh! That must be Luke. I haven't seen him in forever!" Ugh. Neither had I. Except I was hoping to keep it that way. How were you supposed to get over someone if you saw them everywhere you went?

Luke came in and wrapped Sophie into a hug. "I missed you, Luke."

"Me too." _I have _**got **to get out of here. I shook my head to clear it up a bit and went to my room.

I went over to the window and opened it up. Just as I knew he would, Alex appeared in my room as soon as I stepped away from it. I smiled and closed the window before plopping down onto the bed next to him. He wrapped his arms around me and I sank my head onto his chest. "It's good to be back home."

He started stroking my hair, which caused me to become rather sleepy. I yawned. Alex smiled. "Go to bed."

"Stop stroking my hair and I won't have to," I retorted. Alex smiled and shook his head slightly at my stubbornness. We continued this exchange for a while.

I sighed. "Are you trying to get me to smack you?" Alex laughed.

"Go ahead. I don't think it'll hurt much."

"Stop stroking my hair! It's making me sleepy."

"But I love your hair..." I sighed and laid my head back down on Alex's chest. He smiled triumphantly and resumed making me sleepy by stroking my hair. Don't know why it was so interesting, but apparently it was.

I almost fell asleep before Luke and Sophie came in. Apparently Luke already knew about Alex, because he didn't disappear this time. "Hey guys. We're going to a movie. Want to come." You wouldn't notice it if you weren't looking, but we both flinched at Luke's presence. I flinched because... well, isn't that a bit obvious? Alex flinched because he knew exactly what I was thinking. Problem with vampires is, apparently you can't have any secrets.

"Sure," Alex said. I gave him a weird look, but let it go. I would've thought he would have rather dropped dead than go to a movie with Luke. But whatever.

The movie was beyond boring. I ended up just burying my head into Alex's shoulder for the duration of it. He whispered sweet nothings into my ear, making me smile every time.

Sophie rushed into the car, looking terrified. I sighed and sat next to her. "There were fangs in there, weren't there?" Sophie nodded. I sighed and hugged her. "Don't worry. We'll protect you, ok?" Sophie nodded and hugged me back. My poor sister. I guess this was why Alex wanted us to come. Sophie had started to attract vampires just like I had. It was starting to scare me.

We got back to the house and went to our rooms. I turned around and tripped towards my bed, but Alex caught me long before I hit it. I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thanks." Alex just smiled and set me down gently on the bed only to pick me up again a moment later so that I could lay my head on his chest.

We stayed like that for a while before my mind started turning. Alex closed his eyes to try to give me a sense of privacy, not that it worked. I knew he had heard. He wouldn't pass up hearing that. "Alex..."

"Yeah?"

"Oh, don't lie to me. You already know what I was thinking so... so do it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Aren't you worried about Sophie?"

"Um... ok, we'll do it to her too later."

"Are you completely, one-hundred percent sure about this?"

I smiled nervously. "Of course." Alex gave me a look. "Ok, so I'm nervous. You would be too. But I am sure."

Alex set me down flat on the bed and leaned into my neck. I closed my eyes, taking in deep breaths. _Oh God oh God oh God! _Alex leaned into the place where numerous vampires had already bitten me. _Looks like this will be the last vampire to ever bite me..._


	22. 22

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

~Claire's POV~

I know what you expect. But no. Alex didn't end up biting me. A crash came from Sophie's room, followed by Sophie's shrill scream. "Luke and Sophie! Alex go save them!" Alex flinched slightly at the fact that I said Luke's name before Sophie, but left to save them anyways.

I sighed and sank onto my bed. More screaming. More fear. But that didn't last too long. After about ten seconds, I didn't even notice Sophie's screaming. Because I was _trying _to do some screaming of my own. But the vampire had my mouth covered. Pretty clever.

"He always did like a challenge. But hey, it makes my job easier." It was the vampires from before. The creepy ones from the punk group. Alex never did end up killing them. He probably should have.

He smiled. "I'm done playing games for now. Challenges wear out after a while." He pinned me to the bed and bit me. The immobilizing venom went into effect immediately. I couldn't even scream. I was getting really weak from the loss of blood. But I struglled to stay awake as hard as I could. I had to stay awake. I don't know exactly why I was githing to stay awake, but it was really important to me somehow.

He pulled his fangs out of my neck and smiled. "I win." He bit his wrist and placed it over my mouth. I kept my mouth closed stubbornly. _I would rather die than belong to you. _He smiled again. "Don't make me make you open your mouth. You won't like it." I still didn't open my mouth. He grinned as he placed his hand inside my shirt. I gasped and the thick substance seeped into my mouth.

I should have lost consciousness as soon as the blood hit my tongue. That was what usually happened. But no. I was still conscious and I could taste it. I could taste the thick coppery metallic substance and it was making me dizzy. I tried feebly to push his wrist away, but seeing as I was barely conscious that wasn't happening.

Something clicked suddenly and, instead of pushing his wrist away, I was clinging it to my mouth. I was sucking as much of his blood as possible into my mouth. I wanted it. More than anything. Suddenly, a giant pain pierced the back of my brain and I finally sank into unconsciousness as I had wanted to from the beginning.

The last thing that crossed my mind was how badly I wanted Alex to be the one who turned me...

~Alex's POV~

They were back. He had drained Luke almost completely. There was only about a drop left. And he was leaning in to bite Sophie. I ran over to Luke and bit my wrist, forcing it into his mouth. Hopefully it wasn't too late. No matter how much pain it caused me, Claire cared for Luke. And I couldn't let Claire get hurt.

Luke went through a slight convulsion, although he was already unconscious so that was all that happened. I took my wrist out of his mouth and it automatically healed as I turned to Sophie and the vampire. He was already biting her. I ran over and punched him in the stomach. He hardly felt it, but it was enough to pull his teeth out of her neck. Sophie collapsed to the floor as I finally killed the vampire like I should have done long ago.

I bit my wrist and held it over Sophie's mouth. She obediently opened her mouth and immediately lost consciousness. I took it out and sank against the wall briefly. _I wanted Alex to change me... _My head snapped up. What? I ran over to Claire's room to see the other vampire I should have killed long ago holding Claire's limp form in his arms.

He was getting ready to mark her. No! He couldn't have her. I threw him out of the window and he slammed into the glass. He died from all of the glass. I leaned over Claire. "Claire..." I brushed her hair out of her face to look at her face. It was already starting to grow paler as the changes started. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She wasn't supposed to be filled with fear. I wanted to be the one who did it. I had wanted more than anything to be the vampire who changed Claire. But that's not how things ended up...


	23. Chapter 23

~Claire's POV~

I'm not really good with thinking about the consequences of things. Like with becoming a vampire. i wanted to so badly. I didn't think about the hunting area, though. Alex had the guy pinned to the wall. He was looking at me pointedly. "Claire, you have to do it. Trust me, I hate it as much as you do. But we have to hunt." The poor guy was so confused. He had a family! Friends! A life! And I was supposed to take all that away from him?

_You want to live don't you? _**Yeah. But not like this! I mean- **Shut up and bite him! **I can't. **Yes you can. Get over it. My head was starting to spin. Alex caught me before I collapsed to the ground. The guy's blood was taunting me. It smelled so good. It brought me pain every second I didn't attack him. There was a war going on. My instincts versus my reason. "You'll be alright, Claire. Just bite him."

"But he doesn't deserve it." Alex smiled.

"Everyone deserves it on some level." He paused briefly, letting that sink in. The guy started to run away, but Alex pinned him again. "There's a reason why vampires can read minds. You have to focus it to find all the bad things he did. Trust me, you'll have enough incentive to bite him. Everyones done something horrible in their lifetime."

"But-"

"Claire! Just try it for me, ok?" I nodded. Oh boy. I looked at the guy. His mind was going so rapidly. There was no focus. How was I supposed to track down those thoughts? Those thoughts that he thought long ago? How? "He's thinking those thoughts currently. Just not in his conscious mind. You've got to unlock his subconscious and then you've got it.

A sudden wave of horrible thoughts slammed into me as soon as I tried. _I want to kill her! Bludgeon her head in with a hammer! I don't care just die!- She's so beautiful. My wife will never be that good. I should just tae her home.- I never wanted kids! Maybe I should just kill them It'd make everything so much easier. _Oh my goodness. Hate consumed me enough that I was able to bite him. Every drop of blood tasted unbearably sweet. It dripped down my throat, making me beg for more.

Alex pulled me back after a while. "And one good thing is that you don't have to kill them." The guy looked like he was in a daze before getting up and walking away. "The loss of blood gives them memory loss, but the bite itself makes the blood regenerate. He doesn't remember what just happened and he wasn't weakened at all."

"Wow." Maybe being a vampire wouldn't be too bad after all. "I thought I had to kill him." I paused before smacking Alex. "You made it seem like I had to kill him!"

"Well, sometimes you will have to kill them when you need more blood. I wanted you to be prepared for that."

"So you made it seem like I had to become a murderer within a few seconds! I can't believe you." Alex smiled and kissed me on the forehead.

"It's alright. Because now you're officially a vampire." I tried to frown, but a small smile made its way onto my lips._I like the sound of that..._


End file.
